Luminescent Blush
Amalia: Come on, tell me, what happened? Did you dream about Sadlygrove~? |
When embarrassed or otherwise deeply affected emotionally in Anime or Manga (or Animesque), a character (usually but not always female) who is basically innocent will exhibit a dark red blush just under her eyes, usually crossing the bridge of their nose. Turning away from the object of said blush and putting their hands to their cheeks is optional, as is playing with your fingers. Additionally to or instead of a blush, a character may Nosebleed which has a more purely lustful connotation. In Hentai (and, to a lesser extent Ecchi), this is usually a sign of sexual gratification or arousal of some sort.
Occasionally, a brighter red blush may be used to show a character's angry.
As well as this, the background may become a glowing pink colour, with little hearts or clouds or flowers or so on.
In times of severe effect, they may tuck themselves into a little ball while blushing.
In times of even more severe effect, their whole skin may turn into a luminescent glow the color of molten iron.
For some reason, it really makes well for Fan Service.
Compare Blush Sticker, Crush Blush. Often pops up Through a Face Full of Fur.
Anime & Manga
- Integra Hellsing towards Alucard when he's being an idiot.
- The titular character of Karin, who is Luminiscent Blush incarnate, deserves special mention. She's so easily embarrassed, that it's hard to catch her while not blushing. Other characters of the series even comment on it.
- In Mazinger Z and its sequels -Great Mazinger and UFO Robo Grendizer this trope was much more prevalent in the manga than in the anime (where the male heroes usually were the Chaste Hero). In the manga episodes, pretty much all teen characters -including Kouji Kabuto himself- blushed brightly at one point or another, either because his/her Love Interest was praising them/flirting with them or because someone had suggested they were one couple. In Mazinkaiser also was usual seeing Kouji or Sayaka -or some another character- blushing furiously.
- Original manga's episode 8 was a good example. Kouji and Sayaka accidentally saw at each other naked in the hot springs. Their faces were fully red afterwards.
- Another example from Shin Mazinger Zero: [1]
- Kazumi Yoshida (which makes her very cute) whenever Yuji is around in Shakugan no Shana. Shana doesn't lag too far behind, often coupled with her catch phrase. Especially in the S OAV.
- Hinata Hyuuga from Naruto whenever she so much as looks at Naruto.
- In extreme cases (Naruto coming up to her unexpectedly) her whole face turns fluorescent pink [dead link] and she faints.
- In Sailor Moon, the title character and her boyfriend show a truly impressive example, upon finding out the child they've been protecting is their Kid From the Future. Steam also appears over their heads.
- However, most examples seem to come from Ami.
- Shinji and Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion. In one episode, Asuka starts chewing out Shinji for not bringing their lunches, while he tries to get his side in. Toji tosses off a remark that they're arguing Like an Old Married Couple. Cue double Luminescent Blush (they HAD kissed not many days earlier), then simultaneous denial in perfect stereo.
- And in episode 8 Asuka blushed when she realized Shinji was peeking her while she was putting her uniform on. And later in that episode Shinji blushed as he was wearing one of Asuka's spare suits. In episode 9 he blushed when he saw Asuka sleeping right in front of him. In episode 10 Shinji did several times when Asuka was showing him off her new swimsuit and flirting with him about what thermal expansion would to her breasts and when he was listening to Asuka and Misato playing in the hot springs. When Asuka went to visit Shinji in the hospital after the battle against Leliel and she realized he had seen her... Despite -or because- Shinji is a shy kid and Asuka a Tsundere often they get it.
- Misato too. She proclaims to Kaji that she doesn't really have the time to do anything as she has tons of work. Kaji asks her how she's going to get a guy like this, to which she angrily retorts that why the hell does he care anyway. She looks at him... and he's flashing his patented lady-killer smile straight at her. Cue momentary speechlessness and averted gaze with blush.
- The normally impassive Rei Ayanami manifests a Luminescent Blush when Shinji tells her that she inexplicably seems "like a mother" at one point.
- In Rebuild 2.0, she also blushes when she finds out Shinji made lunch for her in school.
- And speaking of 2.0, Shinji blushes when Kaji flirts with him and pretends to try and kiss him.
- Also, when Shinji cleans Rei's room.
- The second film of the Rebuild series has a scene where Hikari approaches Asuka and shyly asks if she can sit with her at lunch. She's even blushing when asking it.
- The emotionally repressed Sakaki on Azumanga Daioh is quite prone to this, especially when presented with something cute.
- Himeko of Kannazuki no Miko, a lot. Although given that she's an innocent Moe Moe Shrinking Violet in a Schoolgirl Lesbians anime, this should surprise no-one.
- Brainwashed and emotionally restrained Henrietta in Gunslinger Girl blushes a lot when interacting with her "handler", Giuseppe.
- Not an emotionally repressed example, but Petrushka/Petra from the Gunslinger Girl manga blushes quite a few times too. So does the Tsundere Triela, for that matter, whenever Hilshire tries to bridge the gap between them.
- Happens so often to the characters from My Balls that you start to wonder if there's a fever going around.
- The above picture is of Lucky Star's resident Tsundere Kagami, who often plays this trope straight. At one point, she went beyond that to display a full body blush after "accidentally" opening a suspicious manga at Comiket. Of her favorite series.
- Kanata blushed as Sou reminisced of their time together. That's right, ghosts can blush too.
- Li Syaoran of Cardcaptor Sakura, who gives the title character a run for her money with the amount of screen time he spends as a human tomato. Syaoran's blushing potential can create shades surpassing tomatoes and even beetroots.
- Especially his blush when Sakura hugged him for the first time in the anime - he never managed to pull anything quite like that again.
- Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch has its cases of these. Lucia sometimes gets her entire face red, usually when thinking of Kaito.
- Most of the characters in Princess Tutu display this at some point, but Fakir—a brooding Jerk with a Heart of Gold — is probably the best at this out of the entire cast (yes, including the girls). There are moments in the show where his ENTIRE face glows bright red, and he's one of the darkest-skinned characters in the show! For a good example, check out the picture from the Please Put Some Clothes On trope page.
- For blush coverage, you can't beat Ahiru. Her whole naked body went completely red once. Of course, for humour and frequency both, Fakir still comes out on top there.
- Haruka in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. She's more prone to this than most characters, spending a good half of each episode red in the face.
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's Fate, socially uncomfortable former Dark Magical Girl that she is, gets these often.
- Yuuno also gets this one; he's a boy, but he poses as a Weasel Mascot, and every time Nanoha cuddles and pets him has Unfortunate Implications.
- And Nanoha doing this to Chrono was nearly a Running Gag towards the end of the first series (sadly, only during the first series). What can we say, she's adorable when she smiles!
- Einhart also gets these from time to time, such as when Nove takes her by surprise in the police station waiting room.
- Monta is pretty much the only character who does this in Eyeshield 21 (and that's saying something), in response to any and all innocent platonic affection from Mamori. And the poor kid tries so hard to be macho...
- This is the default expression of everyone in Saikano.
- Up to the point where the blush sometimes appears to be coming off character' faces and can occasionally get quite distracting.
- The overuse of luminescent blushing in Saikano leads to the strange effect, that it doesn't even indicate, if a character is really blushing or not. Only when the face of someone turns glaring red, you can tell that he is in an emotional state that would cause a Luminescent Blush (if it wasn't already there).
- And in Mahou Sensei Negima! Well, not everyone, but definitely Setsuna... and Asuna... and Nodoka...
- Yue in particular warrants mention.
- As does the fake Asuna (Shiori), who blushes a hell of a lot more and a lot deeper than the real one ever did. And that's saying something. When she's unmasked at the end of Ch. 283, her face combines this trope, Cry Cute, and a mixture of attraction to and fear of Negi to make her irresistably adorable.
- Chachamaru spends her whole Pactio chapter in this state. The reasons for it range from shyness, to fear and sadness, to what can only be called post-orgasmic haze. Even better, she's a Robot Girl.
- Negi just has that effect on people. Especially girls.
- Yomiko Readman of Read or Die does this twice in the OVA. Both times, it's as a result of fellow British Library agent Nancy Makuhari sneaking up behind her and pinching her cheeks, fiddling with her glasses or otherwise displaying some form of affection toward her. Needless to say, by the end of the series these two have hit pretty much every Les Yay trope in the book.
- Ohno, the subverted Tall, Dark and Bishoujo of Genshiken appears to have a constant blush in both the Manga and Anime versions. It remains even during most of her cosplaying sessions, but her embarrassment seems to feed her confidence. Ogiue on the other hand hates the fellow club otakus, in typical Type A Tsundere behaviour, but blushes profusely when thinking of her beloved yaoi. Ogiue's normally implacable and stoic facade makes the Luminescent Blush quite significant of her internal conflicts over her Otaku nature, rather than some attempt at a throwaway Moe Moe visual gag.
- Ohno also had a Luminescent Blush when her yaoi hobby was found out, but she was more concerned of what their impression would be in regards to the type of men she was attracted to (bald men), rather than the yaoi itself.
- Leopard in Sora Kake Girl manages to pull one of these off despite being a large computer.
- Used copiously and to great effect in The World God Only Knows. Haqua probably does it most often, and not just because she's present in more scenes.
- Though everyone blushes at one time or another in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Rena and Keiichi (manga only) blush a lot..And I do not mean their scared blushes.
- Himeno of Prétear blushes a lot, but that's nothing new for a typical Shojo heroine. A worse case is Hayate, who displays great blushing skills while around Himeno, especially in the manga version.
- Yui from K-On! does this a lot, but especially notable is the one she shows when Mio attempts to call her by her given name.
- Toradora's Taiga is prone to breaking out into one, especially where Yuusaku and (increasingly) Ryuuji are concerned. The full-body version occurs when Ryuuji finally tells Taiga he loves her in the final episode's end credits epilogue.
- Ichigo from Bleach goes BRIGHT red when he first sees Yoruichi's human form.
- Sōsuke from Full Metal Panic! does this a few times—most notably during Fumoffu. He does it once when he's defending Kaname against some pathetic Yakuza, and she threatens them that she'll call Bonta-kun over to beat them up until they cry. Of course, Sōsuke feels very embarrassed because... well, he's Bonta-kun, and he thinks she doesn't know. Another time is when Kaname dresses like a hot, older housewife, and pretends that she's having an affair with him. He doesn't recognize her, and feels extremely shy and embarrassed, turning bright red.
- In the first few episodes of FMP it's used to show that Kaname is lying when she claims she doesn't find new kid Sousake attractive. That and the occasional Laughing Mad scene.
- Lina Inverse of Slayers has been known to do this every now and then. The best scene was in a particular episode of Slayers NEXT when Lina and Gourry were talking about how long he would stay her protector. His response led to Lina's face shining brighter than her hair.
- Amelia in one scene from the same season does one when Zelgadis saves her and Martina from a mind-controlled horde of Ax Crazy civilians. NEXT in general has quite a few of these, actually. Zelgadis himself gets several (especially in the cross-dressing episode); and Zangulus does one at his wedding in the finale.
- Squicky example: One flashback in season 5 shows a human Zelgadis blushing when his great-grandfather Rezo touches his cheek and commends him for helping those he heals. Meeeeep...
- It's most likely about simply being praised by someone who most likely taught the guy everything he knew, and whom Zelgadis used to look up to a lot. Sometimes things are, well, just THAT simple. :P
- Shy and timid Fumi from Aoi Hana blushes extensively throughout most of the series, but especially so when she talks to a girl she likes. Peculiarly, the only other character who perhaps blushes even more is outgoing and energetic Haruka.
- Many characters in Axis Powers Hetalia have this permanently.
- Nodoka of Saki gets these a lot, especially when she's with Saki. She also gets these when she's on a roll while chanelling her Nodocchi persona.
- Lucia from Venus Versus Virus gets these quite often when she's with Sumire, however Sumire almost always has one on, to the point that it's lampshaded.
- Yuno of Mirai Nikki is often like this whenever she talks to Yuki. Considering she's a walking Stalker with a Crush-Yandere combo, it comes off just a tad creepy.
- Not just that, but she also gets the blush when killing for her Yuki. Talk about creepy.
- Akane in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou does this occasionally, often in response to Tomomasa's teasing. A few of the boys are quite capable of out-blushing her, though—particularly Tenma, and especially Eisen.
- Yurie from Kamichu! does this a lot, especially when it has to do with Kenji. Her younger brother Shoukichi also tends to do this around Miko.
- In the Ah! My Goddess episode "Ah! A Demon has Come and is Creating Calamity!", Mara turns Keiichi into a Honda Cub. When Belldandy and Urd turn him back, they forget that his clothes didn't change with him, leaving him naked. Urd has an amused look on her face, while Belldandy's entire face turns a deep pink.
- Yuki from Dance in the Vampire Bund gets these quite often, whether it is confessing her feelings to her classmate or finding the director of her school reading her Boys Love work-in-progress. Of course neither said classmate (Akira) nor said director (Mina) are immune themselves.
- This occurs constantly in Onii-chan to Issho (official English title: Me & My Brothers) to many of the characters showing deeper emotion, when they are not sporting their more lighthearted Blush Stickers, which are used even more so. The Luminescent Blush is most effective to the reader when it is happening to Miyashita Sakura and her oldest stepbrother Masashi, who later harbour romantic feelings for each other.
- In True Tears, Noe when Shinichirou confesses to her.
- Nagi of Hayate the Combat Butler gets these, particularly when she thinks she's been given a chance to be alone with Hayate and especially strong when she thinks it's a chance to give him a kiss.
- The other characters have all gotten chances at having them as well.
- Hayate in particular gets an absolutely epic one in the manga at least when Maria (in 'disguise') and Hayate are riding the clock tower elevator and Maria teases him by asking if he is in love with the Student Council President (i.e. Hinagiku). Hayate's reaction consists of a literally Luminescent Blush, much stammering, apparently trying to deny it by listing all of Hinagiku's good qualities and finally being unable to speak coherently.
- This trope gets used heavily in Junjou Romantica. Misaki and Hiroki usually get the worst of it.
- Go and watch any episode of Sonic X where Knuckles and Rouge are in the same place. Knuckles will do this at some point, either from anger or embarrassment (usually the latter). His muzzle matches his fur at least a third of the time she's around, for Chaos' sake!
- Kanna Aoyagi, the protagonist of Koe de Oshigoto! has her blushing face more often than not. Anyone who steps in the recording booth gets one pretty quickly as well. This is only natural, considering they are recording dialog for H-games.
- Otome from Cherry Juice sported one of these that covered her entire face when she awoke to find that she had fallen out of bed at some point during the night, and had spent the remainder of the time sleeping on top of her half-naked step-brother Minami. Thereafter nearly every interaction between the two involved a Luminescent Blush to some degree.
- Everyone in Ai Yori Aoshi, given that they are varying degrees of shy in romantic situation. Particularly funny with Chika, since it has to show through her deep tan.
- Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango all blush quite often, especially the latter since she constantly has to deal with the shameless flirting and wandering hands of her Love Interest Miroku.
- Sara from Overman King Gainer gets one when Gainer declares his love for her while in the middle of a battle against a mind-reading opponent, forgetting or unaware that all the stuff he says are being broadcast across the entire Exodus units and some. Progresses to full-facial or full-body blush when she ran across what basically counts as an entire town and gets called out on it.
- A few characters blush that way in Clannad. Nagisa gets it most often out of all the characters.
- Pretty much everyone does this at least once; even Sunohara. Kyou manages a near-instantaneous full-face glowy blush in this scene.
- Even Kamina manifests a blush once. While he's preaching to Simon that he should defeat his hunger with fighting spirit, Kamina's stomach growls as well. Cue Kamina saying "Uh... me too?" followed by a blush and a nervous laugh.
- In the final episode, Simon does a blush when Nia excitedly shows him her wedding gown. Why is it emotional? Because just now he's coming back from having destroyed an entire fucking UNIVERSE to get her back. Yes, he loves her that much. The scene is powerful because the man who was running on concentrated Hot Bloodedness for the entire arc is now doing something as mundane as blushing.
- In the highschool AU Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Guren Gakuenhen, Yoko starts blushing when Kamina comments on how well she fills out the bikini she's wearing. He misinterprets her flushed face as a mere sunburn.
Kamina: Huh? Why's your face red? You sunburnt already? |
- Standard reaction of women when they see The Medicine Peddler.
- Misaka in A Certain Magical Index is prone to doing this when around Touma or when others point out or inquire about her feelings for him. Sometimes a combination of this, her tsundereism and Touma's density leads to really funny scenarios.
- In fact, seeing Misaka's reaction to Touma being mentioned is Kuroko's Berserk Button.
- At one point in the second season, the Misaka clones are having a minor argument over #19090 deviating from the others by reading a women's magazine. When Touma innocently makes #10032 (aka Misaka Imouto) remember one of the tips in the magazine she heard from the others,[1] she instantly blushes. As mentioned above in the Evangelion entry, this trope speaks volumes when done by an Emotionless Girl - such as the Misaka clones.
- In Wild Fangs, Mao has a really prominent blush after talking to so many girls all at once.
- Yuuen of Wild Rock is prone to this.
- In Hanjuku Joshi, Yae is very prone to this, since she's a relatively straight-laced Naive Newcomer at a girls' school whose students have somewhat relaxed standards of modesty.
- In Hentai, any girl who is um... going through the act will have this with VERY VERY few exceptions, even when they are in the dominate position. For some reason this does not apply the guys, though there are some few exceptions depending the the situation.
- Hanaukyo Maid Tai La Verite episode 2. Taro and Mariel during Taro's dream.
- The otherwise VERY serious second season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 has Allelujah blushing twice.
- First when he's rescued from prison and meets up with Lockon's twin brother who the others failed to tell him about; Allelujah is understandably VERY surprised at Lockon's presence, then he looks from Lockon to the nonplussed Tieria and back...and then he blushes and apologizes for his outburst. Tieria's smiling response is that he hasn't changed but shouldn't.
- Second when Mileina asks whether Allelujah and Marie are a couple; both respond with simultaneous blushes.
- Appears all the time in Wandering Son. It's essentially impossible to find a chapter of the manga where Nitori doesn't blush for at least one panel, and if he isn't blushing then someone else is.
- In the anime adaptation of Sketchbook, the last episode, the shy Sora's entire face turns a luminescent red as her teacher compliments her artwork.
- In My-HiME, Akira gets one while trying to convince Takumi that he didn't see her save him from an Orphan, and that she is actually a "secret ninja of the school". Her face not only turns completely red, but also has Blush Stickers on it.
- Happens to other characters as well, especially Mai and Natsuki.
- In "Mai Otome," Arika does a full body blush when kissed on the hand by a Prince.
- The English title of Maicchingu Machiko Sensei is The Shame of Miss Machiko (Machiko Teacher). Every episode involves the main character being placed in embarassing situations, which involves lots of blushing.
- Karina/Blue Rose from Tiger and Bunny has taken to developing luminescent blushes around Kotetsu once her crush on him goes from subtle to obvious enough that Everyone Can See It (except Kotetsu). Half of anything he does in her presence is liable to turn her red.
- Karin Koboku in "Super Pig" is known for this. In some episodes, her entire face turns blood red.
- Monochrome Factor: Haruka blushed upon looking at Akira in the first episode.
- Ranma ½: Ranma and Akane have done this in some of their romantic moments.
Genma: Oooo! You're blushing. |
- Mikuru Asahina from Suzumiya Haruhi pulls this off several times in the series. The most dramatic example occurs in The Dissapearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya when Kyon offers proof of his being from an Alternate Universe by telling her how she has a star shaped mole on her left breast.
- THE iDOLM@STER - Played for laughs. Chihaya blushes when Miki enters the bath with her and Haruka on the Live For You OVA, though it isn't as much an embarassed blush and more an envious one.
- Makise Kurisu of Steins;Gate blushes extensively when her dere side shows through, especially around Okabe. It's goddamn adorable. Okabe even does it himself a few times.
- Rosario + Vampire has Moka Akashiya, who easily blushes when around Tsukune. He could just say something completely random to her such as, "Really?" and she'll blush.'
- Most of the Yacht Club girls in Bodacious Space Pirates when confronted with sweets, especially if it's Chiaki (normally The Stoic) facing a chocolate parfait
- Misaki from Hana no Mizo Shiru blushes really, really, really frequently.
- This trope is used to show a breakthrough in Casca's cold and aloof personality in Berserk. After her excursion with Guts, where they were stranded in the woods after a battle and he ends up saving her life twice, Casca begins to open up to reveal that she really isn't that mean of a girl. The first major iceberg was broken when Guts playfully slapped her on the butt in front of all of their comrades, causing Casca's face to go red with embarrassment. From there, she starts blushing around Guts a lot more for other reasons...
Fan Works
- Male examples. With how often Germany and Japan get these because of Italy in Axis Powers Hetalia fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità, you would think they were bright crimson lanterns.
- Michikyuu Kanae in Kyon: Big Damn Hero does this whenever Kyon is around. Whenever.
- Also, the sheer act of Kyon kissing Haruhi inflicts one on Koizumi. Then when Kanae notices it when he returns to the clubroom and asks Yuki for an explanation, she blushes too, when she explains that they're "exchanging memetic information through relevant channels". She mistakes it for a conversation.
- Shipping Fan Art in general is in love with this trope.[2]
Literature
- Ty from Dark Life has the literal version of this—when he blushes, he glows. (All of the sea-floor settlers have a 'Shine' from eating bioluminescent fish. Ty's is particularly strong, since he's the first person born and raised on the ocean floor.)
Live-Action TV
- Those who remember The Secret World of Alex Mack will remember that one of the side effects of the main character's powers was that, whenever she blushed, she glowed gold—of course, thus further embarrassing her and compounding the problem (though this side effect was only shown in the pilot. The telekinesis, electrical powers, and ability to morph into liquid powers stayed).
- In Kamen Rider Double, Shoutarou's shown to be blushing brightly after making a rather heartwarming comment after closing a case, except his are a bit more computer generated.
- Kamen Rider OOO has Eiji showcase a more natural blush (via proper makeup) in episodes #23 and 24 after falling madly in love, courtesy of the Monster of the Week's spell.
- In episode 14 of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, this is Insarn's immediate reaction when she takes a better look at Kyosuke: the entirety of her lower face glows red.
Video Games
- One rather off-putting moment in Shadow Hearts: Covenant comes at the Fountain of Sukune, when Saki asks Karin if she has feelings for Yuri. A Luminescent Blush blinks on and off her face.
- In the Tales (series), although not shown on characters' faces, blushes show on their speech balloons as red slashes.
- Actual facial blushes were more of a Dawn of the New World thing, especially in the c-skits (Emil blushes a lot.)
- Characters in Tales of Phantasia had whole faces turn red when they blush.
- Taken to extremes in Sengoku Basara in the form of Kasuga (AKA Venus in Devil Kings). She has her priorities straight, but if Uesugi Kenshin is nearby, or complimenting her, she goes completely dazed, blushing and swooning hard with this trope painted on her face. This gets even worse if Kenshin is about to embrace her, which he does often.
- The anime once again takes one of its source tropes Up to Eleven: In it, Kasuga basically climaxes if Kenshin touches her.
- New character Tsuruhime also goes bright pink whenever her "saviour" Fuuma is around, complete with Love Bubbles. Unlike Kasuga, she merely goes into soliloquies rather than swooning.
- Happens in Persona 3 in conversations with many female characters. Their faces literally glow bright pink.
- Same thing with the guys in Portable when playing as the Female MC. Most notably, Akihiko's and Ken's cuteness appeal turns Up to Eleven. (Especially Ken)
- In Golden Sun, due to the small screen size, characters' entire faces turn beet-red.
- In one scene in The Lost Age, when Sheba is teasing Jenna about her and Isaac being "an item", Jenna first flushes as normal (i.e. her face). Then, when Sheba teases her again, it's not just her face that turns red, it's also her hair and clothes.
- Valkyria Chronicles is an anime-styled Japanese RPG which features a romance subplot; the blush is a must.
- Interjecting a quiet and quick "Is it getting hot in here?" is shorthand for blushing in both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2.
- In Breath of Fire III, Silent Protagonist Ryu's whole face turns a bright red and he tries to look to the side when Bleu awakens. It especially isn't helped by her deciding to talk to him by standing right in front of him.
- In the Tokimeki Memorial series, and its Spiritual Successor Mitsumete Knight, this is a staple feature. If the girls you are dating show up with a blushing face, it's a good sign that your relationship with her has reached a "deeply in love" stage and thus you have a high chance of ending with her, special requirements for the particular girl not taken in account. In Tokimeki Memorial, this feature is officially called the "Tokimeki State", and in some parts of the Western fandom the "Blushing Stage".
- The rather soft-spoken male lead of Farland Saga 2 is called to judge a swimsuit contest. He starts the contest in a state of embarrassment, graduating in a full-face flush when protagonist (and Love Interest) Karin takes the stage.
- Every monster you raise in Monster Rancher DS gets one of these when you praise it for something, from the mighty Dragons to the admittedly cute Pixies... Who are probably human-like enough that this could count as Fetish Fuel if the player assumes a different praise is said...
- In The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Ruto gets does this at one point during her rescue by Link.
- In The King of Fighters XIII, King gets one during the Art of Fighting's team ending, thanks to Yuri, who knows damn well how she feels about her brother, Ryo.
Visual Novels
- Four characters in Fate Stay Night (Saber, Rin, Sakura, and Issei) do this, pretty much all in reaction to the main character.
Web Comics
- El Goonish Shive is true to its Anime roots. Nanase, Lavender, Rhoda...
- A rare thing indeed is the male luminescent blush, as displayed here by Tedd and here by Tony. Maybe he's just that girly?..
- Ash and Emily display them every so often on Misfile.
- This is pretty common in Gunnerkrigg Court, seen on Gamma, Kat, Kat, Mort, Kat again, and Parley.
- Parley also performed "bright full-face blush" when she accidentally teleported herself, Smitty and three witnesses into her bed.
- Abbey after her first kiss in Gnoph. It's particularly visible since she's albino.
- Luminescent Blushes are quite common and prominent in Twokinds. Each character has had at least once in his or her life.
- Common in Sandra and Woo.
- Frequently seen in Slightly Damned. Most often on Kieri.
- Hanners from Questionable Content, and Marigold also has done it once or twice.
- High-quality robot bodies can change skin colors, so it shouldn't be too great a surprise that they can blush.
- Go to the Khaos Komix archives and click on a page at random. Odds are at least one character will be doing this.
- Penny from Enjuhneer has been doing a bit of this of late.
- Vriska from Homestuck blushes blue: here.
- In Cuanta Vida, BLU Scout has one here.
- In The Whiteboard, Sandy shows one of these when the usual crowd is cheering Swampy's having slept with her the night before. Doc comments that it's so intense it's into the infrared.
- Seen at least several times in Housepets, even through the fur covering their faces.
- Very common with Julia in Think Before You Think.
- A rare male version with Yuudai from Sakana, he has one after Taisei invades his comfort zone here and here, and, perhaps a more visible one due to it being coloured, here.
- In Nip and Tuck, it's bright enough to be seen when he starts out red.
- In Rusty and Co., Madeline, when she mentions Derek the Cleric.
- Sequential Art, every time Art and Kat are trying to ignore the obvious mutual attraction.
- In Fragile when Emily discovered she has unread messages from Bruce, she instantly blushed with pyrotechnical background and sound effect "poof!".
Western Animation
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- A flashback shows a young Mai turning aside during a Luminescent Blush for a second when a young Zuko walks by—an impressive show of emotion considering what she's usually like.
- As the DVD Commentary points out, there is a rather odd-looking scene when Suki is seen with this despite wearing rather thick facial makeup. (Sokka pulls off this same feat.)
- In addition, in the season 3 episode "Sokka's Master", Toph tells Sokka that Aang and Katara missed him, but she didn't mind so much. She turns away to say this and blushes, to the camera's sight.
- Aang does this pretty much any time Katara is touching him, or gets into a formal dress, or puts on her swimwear... (he's biologically 12 and she's 14, so it's pretty innocent).
- Zuko also does this when Toph glomps him in the finale, complete with speechlessness and his eye getting all wide. It's rather adorable. [dead link]
- Teen Titans: Used on Raven quite a few times. Starfire does this a lot, but hers is literally luminescent on account of her alien physiology.
- Dialed Up to Eleven on Daria when Daria had a full-body rash that necessitated a hospital visit. Turns out the "rash" was a stress reaction to her being around Trent.
- About every character of Code Lyoko sports a Luminescent Blush at one time or another.
- Though the funky-looking exhaustion blushes in "I'd Rather Not Talk About It" take the cake. They look more like bruises than blushes.
- Every time a character blushes in Danny Phantom, their cheeks are a ridiculous shade of red.
- Used frequently in Wakfu. Evangelyne and Sadlygrove both do this, especially around each other.
- Adventure Time used this on Finn several times, most notably when he's around Princess Bubblegum.
- In the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "Lesson Zero", the Mayor of Ponyville blushes likewise after she and half the town are broken free from chasing and fighting over an old doll (on which an enchantment of attraction had been cast.)